Today's review is for The Book of Lost Things by: John Connolly.
As usual *SPOILER ALERT*
In The Book of Lost Things, 12-year-old David, while trying to cope with the death of his mother, the new woman his father married, and his hatred for his new step-brother Georgie, accidently steps into a fantasy world filled with fairy tale characters. Drawn by wonder, and the promise that the king of this world will help him get back to his own, David travels through this fairy-tale world, guided by Roland (from Robert Browning's poem Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came). On his way he meets fairy tale characters we're used to (i.e. Snow White), and some that we aren't (i.e. The Goose Girl). But David realizes that not everything he knew about fairy tales is true in this world, and soon uncovers a dark plot that the king himself is involved in.
I give this book an 8 out of 10 stars. Although Connolly's prose can sometimes be boring, it overall flows very well, even imitating that of a fairy tale. Some of the fairy tales allusions can be difficult to understand, as Connolly changes them and uses some less common tales, but the version shown above (with the red cover) has an appendix devoted to explaining the references, and containing the actual tales themselves. It's not a particularly fast read, but you don't want it to be fast. Connolly stirs up emotions so well, that you truthfully never want the story to end.
On a side note, if you've never read Robert Browning's Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came, I highly suggest it. It's a great poem, and serves as the inspiration to Stephen King's Dark Tower series, which are some of my favorite books.
As always, I hope this review was helpful! Happy reading!
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